Condolences
by DumbHumanLikeYou
Summary: The recent LGBT suicides have always been in the back of their minds. When one rocks Ohio, Kurt finds himself being the strong one, giving Blaine a shoulder to cry on. Klaine as an established relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Sitting down and leaning back into the couch, Burt Hummel grabbed the remote and turned on the evening news. The thunderous downpour outside made the sky seem much darker than six thirty, and Burt hoped that he could get at least the news and this week's _Deadliest Catch_ in before the rain caused the power to go out.

Looking over into the kitchen, he saw that his son Kurt wasn't even chancing using the dishwasher, instead cleaning the dishes from their dinner by hand. It had been a pleasant dinner between the two of them; Kurt wasn't letting loose on his promise to make Burt eat as healthy as possible, but thankfully the word 'flavor-free' had been removed from their fat-free, sodium-free meals.

The news began, teasing stories about an emergency airplane landing, the President's visit to some African country, and the Ohio governor's veto of the civil rights bill. _"Last time you're getting my vote," _Burt thought.

It was the fourth story mentioned that made Burt choke on his glass of water. As the WOHN anchors introduced themselves and started reporting the plane landing, he found himself impatiently tapping his foot, wanting to hear more about that last story, and wondered why it was less important than Obama bowing to another nation's leader.

The doorbell rang, bringing Burt out of his momentary trance. _Who would be at the door now, in the pouring rain, no less?_

"I'll get it, Dad," Kurt yelled from the kitchen. He wiped his hands free of the suds from the sink and walked over to the door. The ringing of the doorbell had been replaced by anxious knocking. Looking through the peephole, he saw a drenched face and two very red chocolate-brown eyes. It was those outrageous triangular eyebrows, though, that made Kurt realize who was outside, and he quickly unlocked the door and opened it.

There his boyfriend was, standing on the front step, white Dalton Academy oxford drenched to the point where Kurt could clearly make out the pink _FCKH8_ on the T-shirt underneath.

"Blaine, what are-"

Kurt's question was cut off by Blaine bursting through the doorway and wrapping his arms around him, enveloping him in the tightest hug humanly possible. Kurt hugged back, clearly stunned. He could feel Blaine shaking beneath his fingertips, and chalked it up to the freezing rain. That is, until he heard Blaine's raspy gasp for air.

Blaine was crying. Sobbing. Kurt pulled the taller boy in closer, ignoring the fact that the rain and tears would probably ruin the designer sweater he had on. There were some, albeit very few, things more important to Kurt than fashion. Blaine was one of them.

"Kurt, I-" Blaine tried to start, but he couldn't stop crying long enough to continue. He kept trying to talk, but could barely get past Kurt's name before giving in to his sobs.

"It's okay, Blaine. I'm here."

Kurt exchanged a worried look with his father on the couch, as the punditry between the anchors and some guest commentator seemed to fade into the background.

"Kurt, I love you."

Burt's eyebrows shot up. He knew that the two boys had already professed their love for one another a few weeks ago from Kurt, but it was still strange to hear those words out loud.

"I love you, Kurt, you know that, right?" Blaine asked, still quietly crying. Kurt nodded, unable to control the smile on his face. Blaine wasn't smiling at all; he looked completely serious about what he was saying.

"I love you, and your dad loves you. You know that, don't you, Kurt?" Blaine was finally able to talk again, and didn't waste a moment of it, rambling at a rate that Kurt could barely decipher.

"He loves you, and Carole loves you, and Finn loves you, and your friends love you. You're not alone. You know that, right? Oh God, Kurt, _please_ tell me you know that."

Blaine was starting to sound like those _It Gets Better_ videos that The Trevor Project had put out, and although Kurt was confused as to why he felt the need to talk like that, he nodded. "I know that, Blaine. I love you, too."

Realizing in a moment of horror that he had said those three words in front of his father, he turned back to look at him. Burt was deeply engrossed in the television, looking very tense.

"Blaine, what's going on? Why are you saying all this?"

Blaine looked off into the distance, visibly trying to find the right words and stop himself from crying again. He failed, and broke down sobbing as Kurt found himself practically holding his boyfriend up.

Blaine was usually the strong one in the relationship, offering comforting smiles and warm hugs as Kurt would whine about his dad spending too much time with Finn or feeling under-appreciated in the Glee club when another of his dream solos went to Rachel. Blaine always found a way to stay strong no matter what problems he was facing, and worked to help Kurt see the same strength in himself. Kurt had never seen Blaine so much as tear up before, and here he was, Kurt's mentor, lover and best friend gasping for breath as he blabbered incoherently through the sobs.

Over on the couch, Burt finally heard the story he was waiting for. But after a moment, he jumped out of his seat and dropped the remote as if it had shocked him. He looked from the television to his son and Blaine, everything suddenly becoming clear to him.

"You know, Blaine…" he said, making his way over to the couple. Both boys jumped slightly and turned to look at him, Blaine grabbing Kurt's hand tightly. They watched him, the taller still silently crying as Burt tried to find the best way to go about the situation. "I… the rain is too dangerous to drive in. I think you should stay the night, if that's alright with your folks."

"Dad!" Kurt gasped, surprised and completely confused. But Burt decided to make eye contact with Blaine instead, hoping that his son's boyfriend would realize that he knew the reason for his tears. Blaine looked from Mr. Hummel to the television, drawing a sharp breath, and looked back nodding. Burt thought he could see the hint of a sad smile as he replied, "Thank you, Mr. Hummel. I really appreciate it."

"That's settled then," Burt said. "Kurt, I'm pretty sure there's some of Finn's clothes in the dryer. You should find something for Blaine to sleep in. I'm going to grab the air mattress out of the closet."

"Sure, Dad," Kurt replied, slowly leading Blaine to the laundry room. Burt watched as the two of them left, then turned his attention back to the news story he had been waiting for, listening to the last few lines:

"…a spokesperson for the academy expressed his condolences on behalf of the faculty and administration, and has stated that the school does not believe the emails came from any students in the school, but police are still investigating. Sadly, Dalton Academy has joined the ranks of Rutgers and Johnson and Wales University as gay rights supporters around the nation mourn the death of Kevin Gorman."


	2. Chapter 2

Kurt fussed with the sheets on the air mattress as he waited for Blaine to get out the shower, tucking and straightening them with an uncomfortably numb mind. He had gone online while waiting for the air mattress to inflate, and found the reason for Blaine's breakdown posted all over his Facebook home page. Each and every friend he had met at Dalton had posted variations of _RIP Kevin Gorman_.

Kurt had never met Kevin during his short stint as a Dalton Academy student- _at least, I hope I hadn't, _he thought, wondering if he had ever crossed paths with the junior whose name and school picture were now plastered over news sites across the nation. He would feel terrible if he had met Kevin, and never remembered.

"For the first time in my life, darling, I do _not_ approve of your fashion choice."

Kurt looked up from the sheets to see Blaine standing on the stairs, pretending to model Finn's pajamas and T-shirt. While his shoulders were too broad to fit into most of Kurt's tight-fitting wardrobe, Blaine was still significantly smaller than Finn, and the McKinley basketball shirt fell halfway to his knees. Kurt couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sorry. Your clothes are in the dryer. I'll grab your shirt for you once it's done."

"No problem." Blaine sat down at Kurt's vanity and began cuffing the bottoms of Finn's pajamas, starting over each time they didn't end up even. The shower seemed to have calmed him down, and the only sign of his breakdown was the ring of red, swollen skin around his eyes. He looked up at Kurt's concerned face. "I'm guessing you know. You know, about Kevin."

Kurt nodded. "Well, only _of _him, and what happened. I don't know any details or anything. I didn't read any of the articles I found online."

Blaine sighed, shaking his head. "Already articles online, " he muttered. And then his voice exploded through the room at a volume neither of them was anticipating. "It happened _four hours ago_! Give his family time to mourn before you make him a headline."

Seeing Kurt's shock at his outburst, Blaine apologized, face relaxing. "I'm just getting really worked up about this. I'll explain everything, I just need to calm down first."

After a moment of silence, Kurt bounced off the air mattress and walked over to Blaine. "I've got just the thing," he said. He started searching through the drawers of his vanity, eventually pulling out his special eye cream. He had become addicted to the (rather expensive) cosmetic when his father started spending extra time with Finn; using it hid any signs of him crying himself to sleep.

"Your eyes are in desperate need of care," he said, dangling the lotion in front of Blaine's face. "How about you lie down and relax, and explain everything, and I'll give you a proper facial?"

For the first time all night, Blaine's face lit up in a full smile and laughed. Though he usually put up a fight when his boyfriend wanted to try new home skin remedies on him, and absolutely refused to let his toenails get painted, he secretly loved how much Kurt pampered him. He nodded and began to walk over to Kurt's bed, before doubling back and grabbing Kurt's face, kissing him on the lips.

"Just realized I haven't done that yet tonight," he said.

Kurt smiled and leaned back into Blaine's lips. The kiss was soft and deep, with neither party taking control; they instead responded to each other equally. Kurt felt his toes curl as his entire body began to tingle and his mind became blissfully empty of every thought except those lips. As they pulled away, Kurt forgot for a moment who Kevin Gorman was and the events that had transpired earlier that evening. Blaine looked the way he always did when they stopped kissing, his goofy smile accompanied by that passionate look that made Kurt feel faint. However, the feelings of before slowly crept into Blaine's face.

"Now, you were saying something about a facial?"

Blaine laid himself gently on Kurt's bed, knowing how much he fussed about wrinkles in his duvet. He adjusted the dress of a shirt he was wearing, the neck of which had edged its way to one side, exposing his shoulder. Staring at the ceiling, he asked, "Where should I begin?"

Kurt paused from collecting his facial supplies. "How about at the beginning of the school day?"

Blaine sighed. The beginning of the day seemed so long ago; he could barely remember it. He had overslept after staying up into the early hours of the morning studying for his Calculus test. He had compensated by speeding to Dalton, cutting off a good chunk of his usual 70-minute commute. He wound up breezing through the test, and was in a great mood by the end of the day.

"And then, right after last period had begun, we heard this huge commotion in the hallway. Paramedics were running down the hall towards the library, and Monsieur Wells left and asked what was going on. They told him there was an unconscious student in the library."

"Kevin?" Kurt asked, and Blaine nodded as best as he could without disturbing the lotion his boyfriend was applying to his face.

"And the entire French class starts freaking out, trying to figure out who it was. Everyone was listing off what students had previous medical conditions, who looked sick earlier in the day, things like that. Joel stormed off after them, yelling that he's an Eagle Scout and had experience with first aid and wanted to help. It was utter chaos."

Blaine drew a deep breath, slowly let the air escape through his lips, and continued shakily. "And about ten minutes later, we see everyone walking the other way, and there was a body on the stretcher… covered in a white sheet. Just like the movies."

Kurt stopped applying the eye cream and grabbed Blaine's hand, squeezing it tightly.

"So, then there's an announcement saying that all sports and clubs are cancelled for the day, and there'll be a meeting after school for all who want to attend. And I swear, Kurt, when I walked into the auditorium, the place was packed. I don't think anyone went home."

One thing Kurt had loved about Dalton Academy was the sense of camaraderie. Every seemed to know each other and care about each other. Yes, he saw some of the same cliques that there were at McKinley: the jocks spent most of their time with each other, as did the high achievers taking AP classes, and members of the theatre troupe were always discussing the latest choreography from rehearsal. But no one went out of their way to ignore another student or give them any grief. On his first day, Kurt saw a handful of jocks walk down the hallway, one with an open cup in his hand, and braced himself for the frozen slap of a slushie in his face. The horde of athletes simply walked by, taking Kurt by surprise. One of them even stopped and asked if he felt all right. He had simply mumbled something about being the new kid, and received a smile from the student, whom he remembered as having dark red hair and a penchant for sarcasm.

The memory flooded back into him, and Kurt gasped as he remembered the name of the boy who had been generally concerned for him on that first day. "Kevin!"

Blaine abruptly stopped his monologue. "What about Kevin?" he asked warily.

"I met him! The first day I was at Dalton! He told me I looked sick and offered to bring me to the nurse. I just remembered that."

"Yeah, he was a really nice kid like that," Blaine said, and continued on about the meeting the students had with the police. Kurt sat still on the bed, frozen by the influx on information, shocked that someone could actually pour rat poison into his afternoon coffee and drink it in the middle of the library. Blaine told the tale with an air of disbelief, as though he couldn't fathom the idea either.

"Do they know why he did it?"

"They said his computer was on, and there were a ton of emails open. It was all hate mail, from kids in his town. They said," Blaine started, and then screwed up his face, tight underneath the mask of the facial. His eyes began to water as he finished, "They said it was because he was bi."

The tears fell again as Blaine sat up, holding his head in his hands. Kurt moved behind him, rubbing his back in the comforting way that Mercedes always did when he was stressed at school. It didn't seem to be helping.

"It happened at Dalton," Blaine whispered. "The one place where I thought it was safe, it happened."

They sat in silence for ten minutes. There was nothing Kurt could think of to refute that statement. The reason he went to Dalton was its safety from the bullying of the outside world. He would have stayed, too, had Blaine not convinced him to face his fears. Then it clicked.

"Well, it doesn't have anything to do with Dalton at all," he said, still massaging Blaine's back. "You have two choices when it comes to bullying: be strong and don't let what others do or say affect you, or give in to them. Yes, Dalton makes it easier to avoid bullying, but it's still around us. Hiding from it isn't always the right choice, because hiding is a form of giving in, and that's what happened. It's about personal strength, and refusing to be the victim, not the school."

Blaine turned around to look at his boyfriend, surprised and a bit proud to hear his own words spoken to him. "Whoever gave you an idea like that is a pretty smart guy," he said, smirking. "I bet he's also stunningly attractive."

"He's not _bad-looking_, if you're into thick eyebrows and ridiculously curly hair," Kurt replied as he playfully messed up said hair, curls moving freely about without their usual gel constraint.

Blaine's eyes narrowed. One thing the two shared was hatred of other people touching their hair. "Oh, so _that's_ happening now. Well, how about _this_, Hummel?" he asked, reaching over to break up the perfect part on the side of Kurt's head. As the younger boy tried to pull away, he turned around laughing and started using both hands. "Do you like that? Do you, Kurt? I think you'd look dashing with spiked hair, how about you?"

A not-so-subtle cough rang through the basement, and Blaine let go of Kurt as he saw Burt Hummel standing on the stairs. "Your laundry's done, Kurt," he said, gesturing to the basket he had in his hands.

"I'll get that, Mr. Hummel," Blaine said, jumping off the bed. He made a quick pit stop at the mirror to fix his hair, surprising himself when he saw he was still wearing a tear-stained mask of facial cream. He took the basket from Kurt's father and placed it next to his school bag. "I cannot rock this look any longer," he joked, taking off Finn's shirt, careful not to get lotion on the collar as he pulled it over his head.

Burt watched as his son's eyes fixed themselves on Blaine's shirtless body as he began folding his school uniform. He silently motioned for Kurt to come over to the stairs.

"Look, Kurt," he whispered. "I said Blaine could stay because I could see he was in a rough place tonight. I'm glad you're making him feel better, but just don't… you know. Alright?"

Kurt's eyes widened as he realized what his father was insinuating. "No! I wasn't even thinking of that. I promise." Had he ever thought about having sex with Blaine? Of course he did, but he wasn't going to do it now. Not when their relationship was only a few months old, and Blaine still had no idea how far away he was moving for college. Especially not tonight, after all that had happened.

"Alright, well, good." His father answered awkwardly. "Good night, boys."


	3. Chapter 3

Blaine found himself jolted awake by the sounds of Beyonce Knowles. He looked around and began to reach for his nightstand, trying to find the source of the noise, and then remembered that he wasn't in his room, but Kurt's.

"Sorry!" the younger boy whispered, gesturing to his phone, which was responsible for Blaine's untimely wake-up. Satisfied with finding the cause for his early morning, Blaine closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. He heard Kurt talking animatedly on the phone to Mercedes, and asked himself how Hummel could possibly be awake and active after going to bed not four hours before.

The two had curled up together on Kurt's bed and watched a marathon of Rogers and Hammerstein movie musicals. Blaine had said he needed music to calm himself down, and since he had forgotten his guitar in the Warblers' rehearsal space and Kurt didn't own a piano, they relied on _The Sound of Music_ and _Cinderella_, singing along with Julie Andrews and Whitney Houston. They had even gone up to the kitchen and unlocked the cabinet full of the sugary and greasy foods that Burt could no longer have after his heart attack. Not to mention the make-out session that lasted almost an hour… Blaine was certainly exhausted, but in the best way possible.

He forced himself into a sitting position on the air mattress, watching as Kurt searched through his closet for the perfect shirt, pulling a few out and testing them out in front of the mirror. "Go with the purple one; it makes you look powerful, like a Roman noble," he said.

Kurt turned around and smiled, laying the purple shirt on the ironing board as he hung up his other options. "I didn't want to wake you, because I know you don't have school today," he said, careful not to mention the reason why Dalton Academy cancelled classes for the rest of the week.

"Yeah, well, _Single Ladies_ did that for you."

Blaine watched as Kurt ironed his shirt and finished getting dressed. He convinced himself to get out of bed and start organizing the cans of Diet Coke and candy wrappers that were haphazardly strewn about the room.

"Blaine, go back to bed," Kurt said. "I can do that when I get home from school."

"No, I've been enough of a hassle. The least I can do is clean up."

Kurt laughed incredulously at the statement. "You haven't been a hassle at all. You were really upset last night, and I'm glad I could help. Really," he added as a skeptical look was shot at him.

Blaine smiled. "Thank you, for all of this. You're absolutely amazing, Kurt. Sometimes I wish that I was as strong as you."

Normally Kurt would refute that statement, claiming the opposite. At the beginning of the relationship, Blaine was clearly the strong one who had all the answers to being openly gay in conservative Ohio. But as they grew from friends into something more, Kurt found himself sticking up to Karofsky and Azimio more often, and could walk down the hallways of McKinley without fear of an attack. Sure, the occasional shove into the lockers or slushie still came, but Kurt refused to let them affect him the way it had before. He could finally stick up for himself, and as he proved last night, help someone else through a troubling time.

"We're both strong," he replied.

Noticing that school started in twenty minutes, the two boys headed up the stairs, Blaine carrying last night's trash, being careful to keep the waste and recyclables separate.

"Now, you're sure you don't need me today? I have no problem skipping school if you want me to."

"Kurt," Blaine exclaimed. "I paused halfway through _The Stepsister's Lament_ so you could do your biology homework. If that doesn't show how much I want you to go to school, I have no idea what does.

"Besides," he added, "It's not like I'm going to be alone. My mom gets out of work at noon on Thursdays. I'll probably watch musicals with her, too. I'll be fine."

"But-"

"You might want to listen to the kid once in a while, Kurt. He's pretty bright."

Burt Hummel emerged from the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand. "Decaf," he clarified at Kurt's warning glance.

"Okay, well text me if you need anything, either one of you," Kurt said, pulling on his coat and making his way towards the door. After a quick wave to his dad and a quick peck on Blaine's lips, he was off to school.

The two men stood at the doorway in silence for a moment, listening to Kurt pulling out of the driveway. Blaine turned to Mr. Hummel, motioning to the items he held in his hands. "Recycling?"

"In the kitchen," he answered, showing Blaine the way. Burt sat down at the kitchen table, where there was a small spread of fruit and pastries that Kurt had set out earlier that morning. He watched Blaine toss the soda cans in the blue bin in the corner and begin to wash the dishes. Helping himself to a bagel, he asked Blaine if he wanted any breakfast.

"Thanks, Mr. Hummel," Blaine replied as he grabbed an apple and took a seat. A minute passed by slowly.

"The garage isn't open today?"

"The rain from last night flooded the place. I closed it with the exception for emergencies. I'll probably head down in the afternoon and mop up what hasn't dried."

"Oh, cool." Silence returned.

"So, did you know him? This Calvin kid?"

Blaine nodded, correcting Burt's mistake and keeping calm. "He was in my physics class, even though he was a junior. He was absolutely brilliant; even in the running of becoming valedictorian next year."

"That's a shame. Any word on when the funeral is?"

"Not yet. Kurt said he wanted to go, though," he said, although he wasn't looking forward to what would surely be a reporter-filled ceremony. As glad as he was that gay bullying was getting the attention it needed, there was something wrong about making a spectacle of a kid's death.

"Let me know, too. I'd like to go, too," Burt said sincerely.

Blaine was continually impressed with how supportive Kurt's father was of him. He himself was blessed to have two parents who loved him unconditionally, even if they did find it necessary to have _the talk_ with him at least once a week and requested he got tested for diseases every year to stop them from worrying. Very few boys Blaine had met through GSA meetings or rallies had it as lucky as he or Kurt did at home. He wondered for a moment what Kevin's parents were like, or if they even knew that he had been bisexual.

"What are you going to do when you get home?"

"Probably talk to some other guys from school, see how they're handling everything. Tell my mom I love her. Play the violin for the first time in God-knows-when, and all that other stuff I have on my bucket list.

"But really, Mr. Hummel," he went on, becoming more serious, "I am so thankful that you let me come over, and spend the night. Knowing that Kurt is still facing his bullies every day, well, that terrifies me sometimes. As I was driving home, thinking of Kevin, part of me thought, you know, _what if that had been Kurt?_ And I just had to see him."

"I used to think of that, too," Burt answered. "But not anymore. He's stronger than any of those puckheads that knock him around. And that's mostly because of you."

Blaine couldn't stop the blush from creeping up his neck. "And he's done the same for me."

They both looked out the kitchen window, watching as the dark grey sky began to lighten up.

"You okay to drive all that way?" Burt asked, remembering that Blaine over lived an hour east of Dalton Academy, in the opposite direction of Lima.

"Yes," he replied, sure that it wasn't going to rain again for a while.


End file.
